Flexible top container



May 30, 1933- LA RUE B. CHEVALIER FLEXIBLETOP CONTAINER Filed Oct. 27, 1930 INVENTOR. ZaFwfiC/re a 27' ATTORNEY.

Patented Mdy 30, 1933 UNITED STATES LA RUE B. CEEVALIEB, OI IOLA, KANSAS rLnxmLE 'ror commas.

Application filed October 27, 1930. Serial No. 491,558.

This invention relates to tanks, and particularly tanks adapted to hold volatile fluid such as oil, gasoline, etc., and has for its object the production of a tank having a flexible top of enlarged capacity adapted to expand upon the volatihzation of the liquid.

A further object of the invention is to provide adequate reinforcing of the flexible top to guard against excessive loads which may come upon it through snows, rains or wind.

A further improvement relates to the top of the tank and reinforcing ring for strengthening the tank and supporting the These and other important objects are accomplished through the medium of the following construction, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tank incorporating the improvement herein described.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the top of the tank showing a part of the flexible cover broken away.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the manner of securingkthe flexible top to a wind girder of the tan Fig. 1 shows a tank having sides 5, bottom 6 and flexible top 7. The top and the bottom are connected through the angle ring 9 and may be of any conventional construction, either secured together by weldin or riveted and calked.

he top of the tank embodying the elements of this invention includes an angle iron ring 11 encircling the top of the tank and connected thereto in any conventional manner, the vertical leg of the angle iron ring 11 being at the inside of the ring and the horizontal leg on the outside thereof.

Connected to the ring 11 is a wind girder or reinforcing plate 12 having a third angle iron ring 13 connected thereto at the outer edge. The third ring has the vertical edge on the outside of the ring and the horizontal edge within the ring.

The wind girder is braced to the sides of the tank by diagonal braces 15 at spaced intervals around the periphery of the tank, one end of the diagonal braces 15 being connected to the wind girder while the opposite end is connected to the tank. This construction gives an extremely rigid tank capable of withstanding high stresses from wind or other loads.

Attached about the outer periphery of the wind girder is a flexible cover 17 formed of any suitable material to prevent the ingress of water into the tank and prevent the egress of gases from inside the tank. The flexible top 17 is formed with a slack center portion adapted to sag in the middle, as shown at 18. The sagging portion 18 is supported from the side of the walls .by means of chains, ropes, cables, or other flexible support shown at 20, which are attached to the side of the tank at intervals and run radially to a central ring 21. These members hang in a catenary curve as will the natural sag of the flexible top 17.

When volatile liquids are placed in the tank, more or less gas will be generated due to changes in temperature. It is important to conserve such gas since it may be reunited with the fluid, and, if allowed to escape, its loss would entail considerable value. When such gases are generated, the flexible top 17 will expand, the limit of expansion being shown at 23 which shows in dotted lines the uppermost position of the flexible top.

It will be noted that this construction gives considerably greater volume of expansion with a given amount of sag than can be obtained from attaching a flexible top directly to the sides of the container.

The supporting cables 20, being attached to the sides adjacent the wind girders, are adapted to take considerable load and any weight that may come upon the flexible top, either through wind, rain or snow, or through a vacuum produced by the condensation of gases within the container. The cables 20 will prevent the top 17 from ri ping or rupturing under any such loa s, while the reinforcin plate or wind girder will prevent the tan from buckling. The tank with flexible top may have an additional rigid roof,.if desired, the said roof 100 forming no part of the present invention.

It is understood that the invention is susceptible to various changes and modifications coming well within the scope of one skilled in the art, and it is not desired to limit this invention to the precise forms of structure shown herein, but only by the 52%1 of the appended claims.

at is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described a tank having side walls, a wind girder secured to the outside of said sidewalls, a flexible cover for said tank attached to the outer edge of said girder, and diagonal braces connecting the girder with the side walls to brace the girder against forces exerted by the cover.

2. In a device of the character described, a tank having a side wall, an outwardly directed wind girder surrounding the top of said side wall, a flexible top secured to the outer edge of said wind girder and having a slack central portion, and flexible supporting members anchored to the side walls of the tank to hold said slack central portion.

3. In a device of the character described, a tank having side walls, an outwardly extendin wind girder surrounding the upper ends 0 said side walls, a flexible top secured to the outer edge of said wind girder and having a slack central portion, and flexible supporting members extending radially from a substantially common center in the tank and secured to the upper ends of said side walls for supporting said slack central portion.

4. In a device of the character described, a. tank having side walls, wind girders secured to and surrounding the upper ends of said walls, a flexible top secured to the outer edge of said wind girders having a slack central portion, and a support for said slack central portion comprising a plurality of chains attached to the upper edge of said side walls.

5. In a device of the, character described, a tank having a bottom and sides, an outwardly extending wind girder having a reinforced outer edge surrounding said tank at its upper edge, a flexible cover carried by said girder, the central portion of said cover being slack so that the same will raise and lower responsive to pressure variations within the tank and flexible means extending loosely across the interior of said tank for supporting said cover when in lowered position.

6. In a device of the character described comprising the combination with a tank having an open upper end of an outwardly extending wind girder secured around the tank at its upper edge, a reinforcement for the outer edge of said wind girder, a flexible pressure responsive cover for said tank, that portion of the cover within its edges being sufliciently slack to permit said cover to sag down into the top of said tank, a plurality of slack flexible radially extending members located within said tank and having their outer ends secured to said tank adjacent its upper end and adapted to support said cover when in sagged position, and means for securing said cover and wind girder together adjacent their outer edges.

7 A tank having a peripheral side wall, an outwardly extending girder surrounding said tank at the upper edge of the side wall and extending laterally therefrom, a flexible cover suspendingly supported from the outer edge of said girder and having a slack central portion normally drooping within the tank so that the same is raised and lowered in response to pressure variations in the tank.

8. A tank having a peripheral side wall, a flexible cover having its periphery sealed relatively to the upper edge of said side wall and having a slack central portion normally drooped Within the tank so that the same will rise and fall in response to pressure variations within the tank, and flexible supporting members extending across the tank and anchored to the side wall of the tank for supporting said slack central portion when the cover is in normally drooped position.

9. A tank having a peripheral side wall, a laterally extending girder surrounding the side wall of the tank at its upper edge and having a reinforced outer edge, a flexible cover secured to said reinforced edge of the girder and having a slack central portion normally sagged within the tank for rising in response to pressure in the tank, and flexible supporting members radiating from a common center in the tank and anchored to said side wall for supporting the slack portion of the roof when in normally sagged condition.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

LA RUE B. CHEVALIER. 

